SPAIN: Spicy new way to enter university

For years, students in Spain have complained about the lack of a web portal where they can find key 'inside' information about a particular university. Now an enterprising trio of journalism students from the Universidad Autónomo de Barcelona have stepped in to fill the gap. At the same time they have satisfied another student demand for good tips: where in the country they can find the best patatas bravas (a delicious tapas of freshly deep-fried chunks of potato, served with a spicy tomato sauce).

In 2002, Andreu Caritg, Felip Gordillo and Oriol Solé were in the university's student bar, expressing their frustrations on both the virtual and gastronomical fronts, as their department lacked a point of contact and the bar failed to serve their favourite tapas.

As a result of their talk, they decided to create a portal that would serve as an online meeting place for others in their department. They also wanted to offer a space where students and lecturers could post their own 'survival notes', for example about how to pass particular subjects, make recommendations for improvements and post amusing comments that lecturers had made in class.

Today the portal has grown to cover universities in every autonomous community in Spain and has more than 30,000 registered members. The site, www.patatabrava.com, is now the top university network site in Spain. Like many other social networking sites, it offers space where students can hang their favourite photos and video-clips, meet colleagues and seek love.

Users can find the best patata bravas in their area by selecting 'Temples' and pinpointing the exact location of the nearest bar or restaurant on Google maps. The portal is full of humour but also has a serious side for the thousands of students who use it daily to seek advice.

'Duveline', for example, writes in one recent blog: "Now it is up to me to decide. I don't know what to do, there are many things I like [about my course] but I have not been able to make a decision. I am afraid of failure and at the same time confused."

The students who set up www.patatabrava.com have provided a valuable space to share information and concerns for Spanish scholars. Along the way they have managed to achieve something else that was close to their hearts – their faculty bar now serves patatas bravas.